Philanthropic giving, market-based performance and institutional ownership: evidence from an emerging economy

This paper investigates the association of philanthropic giving with market-based performance and institutional ownership using data from banks in Bangladesh from 2007-2013. Our findings suggest that banks with a higher level of philanthropic giving achieve better performance, with a positive association also found between philanthropic giving and institutional ownership. This implies that institutional owners invest in banks that contribute more to philanthropic activities. These findings should be of interest to managers, regulators and policy makers in countries that share similar financial and socio-economic systems.